Programme Director – Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind

The Medical Research Council (MRC)

Programme Director – Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind

Salary: The successful candidate will be seconded from their host institution and their employer will be remunerated in recognition of the time spent on UKRI business. Travel and subsistence expenses (including family care costs) will be reimbursed. Hours: Part time (1 day a week) Contract Type: Secondment for 23 months Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire.

Background

The £35m UKRI research programme in Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind (AMHDM), is an integrated multi-disciplinary approach to better understand the developing adolescent mind, accelerate innovation in policy and practice, and generate evidence-based solutions for changing models of mental health provision and the education environment for adolescents. Adolescence is a critical, poorly understood period in the life course, when the brain is highly sensitive to external influences, and a young person’s interaction with their social and cultural environment is also changing rapidly in the transition to adulthood. This programme has been established to help provide a better understanding of how genetic, physiological, psychological, social and cultural factors across development shape the adolescent mind, and how they interact to influence, both positively and negatively, lifelong mental health, educational attainment, identity, social relationships and behaviour.

The programme, which began in 2020 and runs until 2025, is being delivered through four interlinked areas of activity:

Seven projects to a value of £24 million started in September 2021. These four year multidisciplinary projects aim to generate a whole new understanding of the developing mind to enable young people to flourish, and in doing so will help identify more effective preventative and interventional approaches for young people’s mental health. View summaries of the seven projects.

Thirteen projects were funded by this workstream with a total value of c.£8.2m. They started in November 2022 and will generate and embed new research methods, tools, measures and resources in the field.  View summaires of the 13 projects.

In addition to the flagship research programmes and methodology awards, the programme has funded a number of engagement and COVID-19 rapid knowledge mobilisation awards to the total of £1.5m.

Building on both of the above, this workstream is seeking to establish a UK-wide network of researchers and stakeholders, oriented to the challenge in question, creating and strengthening multidisciplinary research collaborations, and facilitating interactions with policymakers, health, social care and education sectors

This workstream will accelerate the implementation of research evidence into policy and practice. Its primay objective is to link researchers from the funded programmes and broader community to stakeholders and relevant organisations that can share knowledge and amplify its impact in real world settings.

To that end, a Research and Stakeholder Advisory Board has been established to provide advice and guidance to the programme.  Additionally, support is provided through the National Children’s Bureau which has been contracted to map key stakeholders, identify gaps, and develop an engagement plan that leverages the expertise of the PIs and activity of the awards.  As a further related strand to this area of activity, UKRI and Wellcome have jointly commissioned Science Practice in a 8-month mapping project to feed into the scope for a larger commission for PPI resource development.

Taken together, these activities will ensure that the AMHDM programme can address complex, multifactorial problems that cut across a number of policy domains, with sustainable impact requiring engagement of wide-ranging stakeholder groups and proactive coordination. This integrated approach will generate better interventions to promote good mental health and wellbeing; accelerate translation of research into policy and practice in education, healthcare and other public services; promote young people’s life chances and strengthen their involvement in research and innovation. Furthermore, this initiative has a strong commitment to embedding the voices of young people with lived experience of mental health challenges across all of its activities.

Organisatonal context:

Since its establishment in April 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has sought to promote ground-breaking national programmes in multidisciplinary research. This cross-council partnership to support multidisciplinary research and innovation in Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind addresses an area of strategic importance aligned with governmental policy research priorities and is the largest programmatic investment in mental health ever made by the Councils. The programme is being jointly delivered by the Medical Research Council, the Economics and Social Research Council, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The role of Programme Director:

We are looking for a Programme Director to drive the programme forward and specifically lead the latter stage community building and stakeholder engagement aspects of the programme to ensure that research evidence is translated into policy and practice. The Director will also explore options for longer term sustainiability of the programme or elements within it. This is a fantastic opportunity for a motivated individual to ensure its successful implementation and maximise the delivery of research excellence and real-world impact.  

Key responsibilities:

The Programme Director will :

The Programme Director will be charged with maximising the impact of the programme and where possible identifying / faciltiating routes to longer term sustainiability of its key activities. In leading the programme the Director will be expected to work closelywith the sponsor Research Councils and other delivery partners.  She/he will be responsible for strengthening engagement and promoting high-level dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders and organisations to ensure a close match between new insights emerging from this programme and the needs and ambitions of researchers, policymakers, practitioners and young people.

The Programme Director will work alongside the MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health team, who provide project support for the programme; specifically the MRC Head of Programme for Mental Health and a dedicated Programme Manager and Project Manager. They will be responsible and accountable to the programme’s Management Board and UKRI senior sponsor John Iredale / Dr Rob Buckle (MRC). The Director will be able to draw on the knowledge and experience of the programme Research and Stakeholder Advisory Board, the MRC Head of Programme for Mental Health, ESRC Strategic Lead for Health and Human Behaviour, and AHRC Head of Health and Environmental Humanities in discharging their responsibilities, as well as on the UKRI Mental Health cross-council group.

Corporate Responsibilities and relationships:

As a secondee to UKRI, the Programme Director will be expected to:

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Shortlisting and interview criteria

Requirement

Criteria

Description

Intellectual  Leadership

Research achievement

The applicant: - must demonstrate credibility within a field(s) relevant to mental health and/or the developing mind/brain through personal leadership or portfolio management of a significant programme of research. Research with and/or about mental health in children/young people is desirable. - must have practical experience in facilitating multi/interdisciplinary working.

Thought leadership

The applicant must: - be a strategic thinker who is focused on achieving maximum research and policy impact in the context of a multidisciplinary environment, with capability to apply this to adolescent mental health. - have an aptitude for identifying, exploring and developing opportunities for research more broadly and across different interfaces - demonstrate awareness of the current UK and international research landscape beyond their own particular research focus area - demonstrate excellent analytical skills enabling them to understand and prioritise goals and requirements in line with their vision.

Programme Ambassador

Representation and advocacy 

The applicant must: - demonstrate they can act as a figurehead for the programme in Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind   - demonstrate how they would act as a national ambassador and advocate for their portfolio and for research and innovation in general

International profile

The applicant must: - demonstrate achievement through networking internationally with research partners and stakeholders

Community building

The applicant must: - demonstrate their ability to guide and inspire others and bring people together to reach consensus and build common purpose

-demonstrate ability to form good working relationships and influence others both within a team and at a range of different levels internally and externally - have experience nurturing early career researchers, providing a supportive environment from an equality and diversity (E&D) perspective

Delivering impact

Communication

The applicant: -must have excellent communication, motivational and interpersonal skills - will have experience of assembling  key information across disciplines to build a compelling narrative and communicating this effectively

User engagement

The applicant: -must have a track record delivering multidisciplinary research relevant to a broad range of stakeholders, demonstrating a commitment to advancing the interests of young people, patients, service users and the public. Experience of achieving impact in an educational setting would be desirable. - must have experience of working with, advising and/or influencing research users, practitioners and policy makers; at both the national and international level

- must have a strong track record of advocacy, ideally with experience of involving young people and/or service users in research - will be expected to implement comprehensive stakeholder mapping, identifying important audiences and priorities for engagement, reconciling differing perspectives for overall benefit.

Capability to deliver

Approach to role

The applicant must: - appreciate the requirements, or have experience of, delivering a complex project

- be able to work independently to prioritise workloads and deliver effective and high-quality outputs under pressure - demonstrate a realistic appreciation of what might be achieved over the timescale, including overcoming key barriers and management of risks

Capacity and commitment

The applicant must explain their plans to manage existing responsibilities and activities during the period of the secondment.

Host institution support

The host institution must demonstrate how it will support the applicant during the secondment, and demonstrate commitment to developing the applicant’s career in the longer run.

There will be a requirement for travel across the UK and internationally, including meeting with UKRI staff in Swindon/London, staying overnight as and when necessary.

HOW TO APPLY

Candidates should apply with a CV, a covering letter explaining their motivation for the role, and a letter of support from their host institution that outlines how the candidate meets the selection criteria and confirming the institutional support.

If successful in this role, you will remain an employed by your current contractual organisation, and your time at UKRI will be on a secondment basis. At the point of offer a tripartite agreement will be created to reflect the terms of the secondment.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

Developing Talent

We are committed to developing employees in their roles throughout their career. Learning and development plans enable employees to continue their professional development through training and development opportunities such as e-learning, classroom training and on-the-job experiences. We encourage our employees to share their learning across teams and organisations.

Equal Opportunities

We strive to make decisions based on individual merit and ability. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and promote equality of opportunity in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. As holders of Disability Confident Employer status, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

About the Medical Research Council (MRC) 

Within UKRI, the MRC seeks to improve human health through world-class research. With an annual budget of over £800 m, MRC provides support both to individuals, through fellowships and grants, and to institutions, such as the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology and the Francis Crick Institute. The outcomes of our research span discovery science, improvements in public health and the development of new treatments for common diseases.   

For more information about MRC, please visit https://mrc.ukri.org

About UK Research Innovation (UKRI) 

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation. 

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation. 

More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.  For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI.

How we support EDI in the workforce 

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’. 

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. 

  How to apply 

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application. 

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.